Viking Past and New Kids in Town

Fall is failing fast, so we thought it would be a good idea to visit a rather less-known Viking burial ground and fortress again and to take the office staff with us. When Cedric's family were here to visit we made the long hike to this place and really loved the beauty of it. It is across a field, through a wood and up a hill overlooking a beautiful lake.

All over this country are burial places where a notable Viking was cremated, then the remains buried. Around the burial spot, large stones are placed in the outline of a ship. Typically, a very large stone marks the bow and another not-quite-as large stone marks the stern. Often, as is the case in this place, others are cremated and buried under large burial mounds. Here the mounds are modest compared to the ones we saw outside of Västeros. I wrote about that in an earlier post.

The road to the area had wonderful
autumn trees, so Olivia couldn't
help but take pictures

Beginning the hike up,
the path was covered by
a canopy of trees with
their fall leaves.

The lady on the right was busy picking rose
hips to make jam. Sisters Wagner and
Heaps chatted with her. Nipon Soppa
(rose hip juice) is a very popular
breakfast drink, here. It is loaded with
vitamin C.

 

Olivia's fascination with fungi
continues. We haven't tried
eating any yet, though.

Sister Hales with the outline
of the ship to her right. The
long shadows indicate that
it is autumn.

Elder Lee in the center of the ship
formation. The tall rock in the middle
is the bow of the ship. This is one of
the largest in the country.

Elders Porter and Hambrick on top of the hill where the fortress
once stood. Behind them is beautiful Lake Mälaren

Sisters Heaps and Wagner

Elder Lee struts his stuff on the ledge overlooking the lake.

The lake surrounds the fortress site on three sides

Sister Heaps, Elder Lee, Sister Wagner, Elders Hambrick,
Porter and Benson

Elder and Sister Hales with Olivia and me

The Elders and Sisters had to get back, so the Hales and we drove
and hiked to another site, close by. We were nearer the lake as the
sun began to set.

The ancient Vikings dug and lined wolf pits
to trap wolves. This one has been preserved.
There were likely several in the area. This is
about 8' X 10' and 12' deep and lined with heavy stones. A live chicken would have been tied to a pole in the center and the hole covered with sticks and brush. The wolf would fall into the pit when coming for the bait where it would be killed by the village farmers.

The wolf hunters :-)

The sun is setting and reflecting from the lake into the forest

Over the nearby meadow

And on the lake

 It was a full and wonderful day.

Elder and Sister Pettit came here with a year left of their 23 month mission. They had previously served in Ireland and a little in Scotland. Their mission was basically complete there, so the Self Reliance Department reassigned them to the Nordic countries to continue their work. They have done a masterful job here, but their time is coming to a close in a couple of weeks, so their replacements arrived for their training and to begin their labors here this week.

We met Elder and Sister Bell at the airport along with the Halls, Hales, and, of course the Pettits. President and Sister Youngberg were out of town, but will get to meet them tomorrow when they host them at a dinner in the Mission Home. They seem like a very capable and sleepy couple. Despite jet lag, they were up early the following morning and again today to assist with training sessions.

Front: Sister Hall, Elder and Sister Bell, Sisters Pettit and Hales
Back: Me, Olivia, Elders Hall, Bell, Pettit and Hales. At the airport - we
only had minutes to sprint to Stockholm to the Migration building to keep their
appointment there.

 We joined them and the rest of the group for lunch at Tant Bruns Kaffestuga. It is a restored building originally constructed in the late 1600s. Even the shortest among us had to duck to get into the doorway. The waitresses are dressed in period costume and the decorations come from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is an experience as well as a meal.

Sisters Pettit, Bell, Elder Bell, Sister and Elder Hales, Elder Pettit

Across the aisle at our table were the Halls

Pettits outside the entry

A very old plaster mannequin of Tant Brun
(Aunt Brown) guides customers to the entry 

 The rest of the week was taken up with the typical chores associated with our assignment. We hauled bikes from the Jakobsberg sisters to the Gubängen elders after making some repairs and upgrades such as lights and brakes.

Sisters Ericksson and Hill.
This is a power team in
Jakobsberg! We forgot to get a
picture of the elders in Gubängen,
but I would describe them as
quite excited.

We also continued to prepare the apartment into which we will be moving the Halls at the end of the week. It included finding and purchasing the last two beds in the area that were the size and quality we needed, putting them into the van and hauling them up to the apartment along with their mattresses. It also meant hauling the old mattresses and other items out. We do get our workouts in this assignment.

We are very grateful for an elevator in
this apartment building. This was a
lot of heavy stuff!

We carried out the old bunkbeds with their mattresses and bedding in anticipation of bringing in the new beds for the Halls. Here Olivia is guarding the things we need to carry off while I go for the van. There is no parking nearby, so it means parking  a few hundred meters away, hauling the items out to the sidewalk, going for the van and then hoping we are not challenged by someone with authority while we load everything into the vehicle. It's the only way to do it, so we don't worry too much.

Even though autumn is drawing to a close and the weather is quite cold, especially with the ever-present wind, the days have been sunny and pleasant for the most part. It is exhilarating to be out and doing spiritual and physical work.

We especially enjoyed church today. Our Uppsala missionaries always have investigators present; most of whom remain for all three hours of the block. Michael, the Chinese microbiology PhD is close to committing to baptism. Sebastian is a young man who contacted the missionaries at the help desk through www.mormon.org. He learned much from them and asked for baptism. He has been to all the meetings for the last two Sundays, and loves the lessons from the missionaries, so he will likely join the Church soon.

We hope your week ahead will be a happy and successful one. We have much on our plate, so we know we will be happily engaged all week. We love hearing from you, even though I don't have time to reply to everyone who comments. Keep in touch!